Shocking Dateline Special

[Latreia]

Answers for all those with questions to Louisiana's state and local officials:

What went wrong in hurricane crisis?

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/9269337/

It was very smart of the show for Stone Phillips to interview the director of the emergency group in Jefferson Parrish, Walter Maestri, and here is part of what he had to say.

Phillips: Federal officials have suggested that this storm and all of this—all that’s happened, just could not have been anticipated. What do you say to that?

Maestri: I tell them to read the report that they paid for from the exercise that they financed and managed. And tell me that they couldn’t anticipate it. Because Stone, I can tell you right now, everything that’s happened is in that report. Every detail is in that report.

Maestri: The state is supposed to be a principal coordinating agency between the locals and the feds. And that was a tremendous breakdown there, it didn’t happen.

Walter Maestri: All of the destruction that’s the result of civil disorder could have been avoided if we would have had the resources would have been available to feed hungry people, to give hungry people food and water and formula for the infants.

Phillips: When did the first federal presence really show up?

Maestri: For approximately six days we sat here waiting.

Phillips: Nearly a week?

Maestri: Nearly a week.

Phillips: Were you prepared?

Maestri: We had done what FEMA told us to be prepared for. We were ready to sustain ourselves for 48 to 60 hours. And we did that, we did that. We were basically told to hang on by our fingernails for those 60 hours or so and we’ll be there, we’ll come and get you. It didn’t happen.

Phillips: Did the federal government fail this city?

Maestri: They certainly weren’t here, let me put it that way. What happened was the cavalry didn't show up.

Maestri: When we went to get the fuel, fuel that we had ordered and paid for, bought by Jefferson Parish, that fuel was seized. And we were told that FEMA had taken control of all fuel. And they were seizing that. And we would have to justify— go through a bureaucratic process to get that fuel released to the parish.

Phillips: So your people were turned around?

Maestri: Well, we were turned around and we came to realize that if that’s the kind of game that’s being played, when I sent the fuel truck back and I sent it back with armed sheriff’s deputies, because not on my watch. I was gonna try to make sure that nobody died.

Phillips: And they get the fuel?

Maestri: We got the fuel that time.

Phillips: So you were saying that FEMA actually became an obstruction—

Maestri: That’s correct.

And when his radio communications system was crippled Maestri says he was stunned to learn FEMA was responsible.

Maestri: My technicians reported back to me, "Hey, I know why you’re not communicating. Somebody took down your all antenna." When we got him up there and he looked he said, "My God." He said, "This is a FEMA antenna. Somebody disconnected your antenna and put theirs up."

 

[loribee59]

*blinks* so what they're saying is that FEMA knew all along this would happened and they obstructed any and all help from going out to LA?! I'm seriously wondering what George Bush was thinking when he asked for an investigation, knowing it could lead back to him, that he hired Michael Brown to head FEMA, and now is backpedaling the damage by replacing Brown with another guy (can't remember his name right now) to get things going~ that they should have done within the first 24-48 hours.

Wow.... amazing what they did with the fuel and the antenna.... what was their motive to obstruct aid to the victims..?

 

[lindseyw05]

Why didn't the LOCAL/STATE government load up all those residents who didn't have a way to get out of the city on these city school buses and other public transportation???????? Huh, Huh, Huh??????? That should have been done when the evacuation was issued in the first place. Think of how many lives could've been saved. I suppose that was Bush's job, too?

 

[Law of Loud]

Why didn't the LOCAL/STATE government load up all those residents who didn't have a way to get out of the city on these city school buses and other public transportation???????? Huh, Huh, Huh??????? That should have been done when the evacuation was issued in the first place. Think of how many lives could've been saved. I suppose that was Bush's job, too?

Where should the city have taken them? Dumped them out of the side of the bus in some farm field in the middle of a Category 5 Hurricane. That was a terrible idea, and thank God the city leaders were bright enough to realise this. Due to backup it was a 10 hour drive just to Central Louisiana. You would have had nothing better than a mess of destitute people, lacking the money to even afford cockroach infested lodging or perhaps a sleeping bag in which to sleep, stranded in school buses on roads in the middle of a storm that had sustained winds of 175 MPH.

That's one of the single worst ideas I've heard of in a long time. THANK GOD that Ray Nagin didn't bite it.

Instead, Nagin thought logically. The Superdome was a strong building, and although it suffered unexpected damage, it did survive the Hurricane. He probably expected perhaps ten-thousand people to need to take refuge there, and so Nagin prepared as he was told to. FEMA supplies should arrive within 48-60 hours, so he put supplies in the Superdome for 15,000 people staying 3 days.

What happened next was unforseeable, between the massive overload taht actually arrived, and the murderous incompetence of FEMA.

 

[shakingthedustoffmyfeet]

The sad thing about so many "news" specials is the "cut and paste editing." Years ago in my public relations classes, we saw the unedited tape compared to what was actually aired. I still watch some of the shows, but I do not trust them too much.

 

[RichardSimmons]

STOP THE INSANITY!!!

 

[murron]

closed for staff review and possible clean-up.

 

[murron]

MOD HAT ON

You will notice many posts in this thread have been removed. Most of them were completely off topic, directing posts at other members instead of the content of their posts and even a couple of flames. No one is getting a warning, consider it a "free pass".
The thread will be re-opened, however, this MOD HAT is to serve as a general warning to abide by the rules. Further problems in this thread are likely to result in warnings being issued. If you can't make a comment without being snide, sarcastic, belittling or insulting...don't post.

MOD HAT OFF

 

[murron]

Thread re-opened, please read the Mod Hat post.

 

[NothingButTheBlood]

*blinks* so what they're saying is that FEMA knew all along this would happened and they obstructed any and all help from going out to LA?! I'm seriously wondering what George Bush was thinking when he asked for an investigation, knowing it could lead back to him, that he hired Michael Brown to head FEMA, and now is backpedaling the damage by replacing Brown with another guy (can't remember his name right now) to get things going~ that they should have done within the first 24-48 hours.

Wow.... amazing what they did with the fuel and the antenna.... what was their motive to obstruct aid to the victims..?

So let me get this straight. Most people have figured out that FEMA dropped the ball, including the President. He replaces the man with someone who can handle it and he is still not doing the right thing? Bush isn't backpeddling he's fixing the situation which is still not good enough for anyone.